Falling So Far Behind with Cannabis the U.S. Surgeon General Urges for Action

Marijuana prohibition officially kicked off for America back in 1937. It was started by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics and its first commissioner Harry J Anslinger. He fueled the Reefer Madness era with statements of anti-cannabis propaganda. The U.S. Treasury Department was Founded on September 2, of 1789. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics was a subsidiary agency of the United States Department of the Treasury.

A Little History

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was Established by the Department of the Treasury in an act that became effective on June 14, 1930. Other subsidiaries of the U.S. Treasury Department are the United States Mint, the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), as well as the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Today the U.S. Treasury Department employees an estimated 86,049 workers as of 2014.

Marijuana prohibition as it was called that was waged by this bureau and its first commissioner has lasted over eight decades. It has torn apart countless families and deterred the medical community from effectively studying the medical properties of cannabis. Approaching 2019, America’s view of marijuana has changed. The plant is being recognized by its rightful name and being referred to as cannabis.

It’s High Time for Legalization

Support for its legalization is at an all-time high. Companies and individuals that supported the prohibition of this plant are now capitalizing on its legalization. Times have changed. Even America’s Surgeon General acknowledges this. The U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome Adams stated;

“Just as we need to look at criminal justice laws, rules and regulations, we need to look at health laws, rules and regulations, and that includes the scheduling system,”

Mr. Adams then went on further to clarify for those who are slow when it comes to national policy by saying what so many Americans are screaming at deaf lawmakers and elected officials.

“I’ll take it somewhere else: marijuana. We need to look at the way we schedule different medications across the board, because one of the concerns that I have with marijuana is the difficulty that the folks have to do research on it, because of the scheduling system,”

This could be just the kick in the ass that U.S. lawmakers need to get their buts in gear before America falls too far behind the rest of the world in regard to cannabis and all the opportunities it presents.

Ashley Priest is a mother, a wife, a writer and a medical cannabis patient. She has a passion for sharing education surrounding cannabis with the world to help remove the negative stigmas that still surround cannabis in many places today.